English Title: Heaven Official's Blessing
Original Title: 天官賜福 (Tian Guan Ci Fu)
Author: Mò Xiāng Tóngxiù (墨香铜臭)
Status: 244 Chapters + 8 Extras
Translator: there are several group translating so I'll link to NU page
Link:
NU: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/heaven-officials-blessing/
Epub: https://tgcfmxtx.carrd.co/
Translation status: completed
Story:
800 years ago, Xie Lian was the beloved Crown Prince of Xian Le. A talented young man who never met real hardship has strong believe and a kind heart. He wanted to be a god so he become a god in such young age. Sadly, a mix of his naivety, idealistic, and over estimating his own strength caused his downfall. He was demoted into human world, no longer a god but still immortal (basically human with same basic human needs but just can't die). From somebody who was loved & worshipped by many into somebody who despised & ridiculed by others.
800 years later Xie Lian ascended to godhood for the third time (yes third). He has no worshippers no temples no merits. He is still a poor god. Scrap collecting god. He says "if nobody built a temple for me, I'll built it myself". He renovates a broken abandoned house to be his temple and put donation box in front of it.
On one of his journeys, he met a young man who called himself San Lang. Xie Lian thought San Lang is just a young teen running away from home. Actually, San Lang is The Ghost King Hua Cheng aka Crimson Rain Sought Flower, one of Four Great Calamities, the enemy of Heaven. Xie Lian and San Lang solved mysteries after mysteries and found out that those seemingly unrelated things actually all connected to their past.
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I think I should tell this first: this is BL (boys love) novel. If BL stuff make you squeamish, worry not. Nothing is explicit. Two kisses only iirc. It was short too, less than a page. I honestly think the story is worth to read even if you usually stay away from BL. The amount of gore in the other hands... hmm just fast read the killing parts.
The novel has 5 books. Each book tell story either from the present or the past. The story was written from 3rd person views.
This novel has their own canon setting of gods, heaven, ghost realm. Human can be ascended to godhood by cultivation or outstanding merits. Just be open minded when reading.
What I like :
This is MXTX story written after Mo Dao Zu Shi and Scumbag (god I always forgot the full title) and it shown. You can see the improvement in writing. For example, when reading MDZS I got confused by the back & forth between present and past events. At TGCF, past & present are separated clearly.
The story itself is what make me in love with this novel. It's compelling, has elements of surprise and satisfying closure. The world setting is imaginative too. This makes me worry can the live action drama give it justice (if they do make one).
I love Xie Lian. He is a kind person who loves human. Until the very end he is strong on his principle. He always tries to do the right thing even though it's hard (or maybe not even the right thing but the best choice). Young Xie Lian has "arrogance" in the sense of over estimating his strength and he's so sure he can solve problem his way. Adult Xie Lian more mature (duh he's 800 years old!) but still reckless in letting himself get hurt instead of others.
Hua Cheng is neither good or bad. All his attention focused on Xie Lian. When he helps somebody, it was because he knows Xie Lian will help that person even though it's dangerous. So it rather him do it than Xie Lian. Hua Cheng is over protective of Xie Lian. When you reach the part of their past, you will understand how Hua Cheng become a ghost, why he become Ghost King and why he being super protective of Xie Lian (ps: I was crying a bucket).
Even though I said nothing explicit, compared to MDZS, the love story is there. You can't ignore. In MDZS you can pretend Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are just friends, best friends/soulmates. In TGCF, Hua Cheng & Xie Lian attune to each other thoughts/mannerism. If WWX: I'm not in love with LWJ we only friends. Xie Lian is not that dense. It's just that he aimed for being god through abstinence so he never had thoughts about romantic feelings.
(Just a note in case somebody thought about it: Hua Cheng can change his appearance to be teenager or adult. When Hua Cheng introduced himself as San Lang, he was teenager. In Ghost King appearance, he's adult. Xie Lian is god, he always look 20s.)
Another things to love: THE PETS! Kidding :D Their weapons have personalities. Xie Lian has white ribbon named Ruoye and Hua Cheng has scimitar named E-ming. Other than being deadly weapon, those two sometimes act like a puppy.
What I don't like:
I feel like broken record. I have troubles remembering names (in real life too). The gods have their god names, their mortal names, some also have titles given by their worshipper. There's character cheat sheet available at the link I gave above if you need it.
This is not fresh review. I've read the novel a while ago. Whatever complaints I thought about when I read it, I can't remember now. I only remember the good things.
Next, I want to read Scumbag. It's written after MDZS but before TGCF. A friend of mine said the story is much lighter than the two but I'm curious anyway.
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